Scene #8749: The Demon King and the Vermillion Knight

Owner	Pose
Timespace Riders	Woz and Meika had left things on uncertain footing, the last time they spoke at length. While there might be a degree less hostility between them following the Halloween party at Lobotomy Corp, the retainer has thus far refrained from reaching out. Woz does, however, answer to Sougo. Thus, with perhaps surprising subtlety, does a missive arrive for Meika, delivered only after consulting that mysterious tome of his. My Demon King requests an audience with you. If it please, join us for an informal luncheon. 9 5 DO--or "Kujigoji-do"--is nestled in a mostly commercial area of Tokyo, at the end of a winding street that curves uphill, cutting a path through packed-in storefronts and restaurants. This street is busy; steadily so, for most of the day. It is also entirely for cyclists and pedestrians, not opening up to cars or buses until the opposite end of the street. The plot upon which the clock repair shop sits is picturesque, in a cozy kind of way. It is clearly a repurposed home, complete with a small garden and an ivy-clung Japanese elm growing out front. A bicycle (probably Sougo's) is out front, leaned against the first step of a small patio. Signage resting on a corrugated metal facade near the front door of the two-story shop displays its name, while a woodblock leaned against the opposite side displays hours. The inside of the shop bears warm, wine-red walls with white trim. Display cases full of clocks rest against these walls--this was probably a dining room, before the place was made into a storefront. There's even a round wooden table and a couple of chairs here. A middle-aged man with short, salt-and-pepper hair looks up from working on a full-size mechanical crank crossbow, alerted from the soft chime of a bell mounted above the door. Kind brown eyes light up with interest as he sets a screwdriver down, and he smiles widely. "Oh--are you here to see Sougo?" he asks, entirely unconcerned with the contrast between what he's working on and the timepieces surrounding him. "I'm Junichiro, his uncle. Sougo's in the dining room," continues Junichiro, pausing in his tinkering to motion towards the aforementioned room with a nod. "He and Woz just got back from a grocery run, so you're just in time." The rattle of a gas stove confirms this. The dining room is dandelion yellow, furnished with a table large enough comfortably seat several people. Sougo enters in from the adjacent kitchen, to retrieve a grocery bag from the table, pausing to smile at Meika as she comes in. "Hey. Thanks for coming."
Meika Kirenai	Woz: If it please, join us for an informal luncheon. It's not really that easy to waltz out for a casual lunch, needing to get out of responsibilities by the handful, and navigate her home city and all of its prying eyes. So when the invitation comes across by text, for all she can try and hide it on her phone, it comes with that unavoidable burden. An 'Okay. I'll be there.' is as much of an RSVP as he'll get back from her. I can push shifts back, and if I don't tell mom and dad, that'll buy me a few hours, maybe. They'll be mad I'm home late, but- It's only a handful of hours before she's on her way, having done what she could bother to schedule leeway, and given up after 'some' and before 'enough'. Trains, warpgates, and more trains before she can get to the bustling pedestrian district the repair shop is situated in. She lingers, outside, bouncing slowly on the balls of her feet- her fingers trail against the corrugation, tapping quietly as she stands there, looking around at the people passing by, the bike, and how nobody else seems to be stepping inside the shop. What about this is going to be lunch, though..? Once she makes her way further in, Meika slowly shrugs the strap of her messenger bag half-off of her shoulder, her gaze locked to rotating around the interior. "Woah..." As cool as all the displayed clocks and mechanisms are, watching them for too long, as they tick and rotate, carries an innate discomfort to dwell on at all. The magical girl flashes an open-hand wave to Junichiro, with only a smidgen of hesitance. "A-ah, um, yeah. I got an invitation, Mister. Do you need to see it?" An instinctive default to an authority's permission, even if it's immediately given after. "Right. I- Meika Kirenai. Nice to meet you. I, um, hope Mister Sougo and Mister Woz weren't waiting too long." She nods, and dips out and past to where was indicated. Inside the refurbished house, her footsteps are completey silent. While they've bumped into each other since, the only recent change to Meika's uniform-ish appearance is that shift in how she's taken to doing her hair. Close enough to how it's done transformed, but not exactly right- the tails of the ribbon tying it up slightly uneven, and it doesn't match her eyes in quite the same way. That, and she looks somehow even more withered and tired. "...Hello, Mister Sougo. It's- it wasn't any trouble." The time it's taken might give away that lie. Still, she repeats the little wave she'd given Sougo's uncle. "I- I picked up some chips from the convinience store. It's- it's not really lunch food, but I didn't want to show up empty handed..." From her loosely-carried shoulderbag, she extracts a couple bags of unobjectionably-flavored potato chips, the absence of which allows it deflate back to normal. They aren't in some sort of plastic cashier's bag. It's possible she just took them. "I- I hope that's not rude."
Timespace Riders	"Awesome," says Sougo, smiling at her. He's a little tired, himself, it seems--or maybe trying to put something out of his mind. At the very least, he doesn't seem at all bothered by her bringing chips along. "That'll go well with what Woz is making, I think," he nods, before bringing the bag back into the kitchen. Already, there is the sound of ingredients being pulled from bags and cupboards. A knife works crisply and quickly, knocking softly against a cutting board. Sougo dips back out of the kitchen, gesturing to the dining table. "It should just be a few minutes," he smiles. Off in the corner of the warmly-hued room, an end table bears a strange little silver tower. It's adorned with all manner of Ridewatches, including a few of Woz's differently-shaped Miridewatches. The armored faces of many Kamen Riders from the past (and a few from potential futures) keep a quiet vigil over the dining room. Sougo takes a seat, his hands resting gently on the table. His sky blue button-up matches the soft tone of the dining room walls. "While we wait, I, um, have a question for you." he says. "Do you think 'everyone gets the same' is fair?"
Meika Kirenai	"Oh. Phew. I got nervous there, for a moment. I, um..." As Meika stands there, now un-chipped, her free hand grabs onto her other arm's shoulder, absentmindedly digging fingertips in. "Have you been doing alright?" She nods along as she's assured it won't takie much time, and quietly shuffles off to sit where she can at the dining room table, letting her bag rest on the floor. Her hands both default to sitting crossed in her lap. With all the echoing sounds, it's easy for her to pay half-minded attention to the hustle and bustle of the kitchen as she waits. "What are all those, Mister Sougo?" Once Sougo has stepped back in, Meika points to the ridewatches, and where they're caringly displayed. "Are they collectibles? I- I don't think I've seen charms like those in any sort of..." She trails off, already second-guessing that comment. 'Do you think 'everyone gets the same' is fair?' "People don't all get the same. But I guess it's- that would kind of have to be, right? Wouldn't it?" Her expression sours, faintly. "Then everything would just be- You know. People's doing. It... it sort of is, though, already, isn't it? It's not like any challenge is- is given out, without the tools to handle it. So..." "Why are you asking..?" The posture and tone shift of this last comment, slightly brighter and a hair more engaged, quite blatantly reshapes her meaning into 'Did I get it right?'
Timespace Riders	Have you been doing alright? Sougo pauses, his hands drawing anxiously closer. "...'Better,' maybe. But a little south of 'alright.'" he admits, after a considerable moment of hesitation. "I lost a friend. Someone who was working at Lobotomy Corporation." The Demon King frowns. "I'm still fighting, for the people who are still here. But I miss him a lot. More, when I see something that reminds me of him." What are all those, Mister Sougo? Sougo does manage a smile, even so. "They're called Ridewatches. Woz and I use them to transform. It's like..." He pauses, thoughtfully, tapping an index against his chin. "You came here from your world; we're both sitting in chairs, and those chairs take up space in three dimensions. But," he says, "You, me, these chairs, this table, this house--all exist in a fourth dimension, too. And even though we don't see it, it's tied very closely to the other three." He holds up his hands and interlaces his fingers. "Time," he says, lowering his hands. "Most people only move through it in one direction, and at a fixed rate." He drags an index across the table, to illustrate--then pauses, when his finger comes to a whorl in the lacquered wood. "But Woz can see forks in the road," he says, tracing a few alternate paths along the whorl, "And I can see behind me." "Ridewatches are like... footprints, on the road. Woz and I can make... what's the word? Casts? Of those footprints. Some of them come from events in the past, and some come from things that might or might not happen." He turns to look at them, focusing on one watch in particular--a larger Ridewatch that appears to be two in one. One half is black, with gold trim; the other is the usual silver color of the others, with the pink-lensed visage of the knightly Zi-O II armor looking forward. "They're also kind of... stories, in a way. And transforming with one means wearing my understanding of that story." Looking back at Meika, "To be king, I need to gather the power of every Kamen Rider, that way. But I've learned a lot from listening to other people's stories, too, even if they're not all Riders." Something sweet and savory drifts in from the kitchen. Soy and mirin, maybe, with an undercurrent of sake. The smell of fresh cut onions drifts in too, distant enough not to induce the teary reaction. The merry jingle of a rice cooker sounds, a moment later.
Timespace Riders	Why are you asking..? Sougo smiles. "You're right," he says. "They don't. Let's say..." He's able to take his thoughts off of M.O.M., engaged in the conversation enough to make a little joke. "Imagine I was really short. And, I don't know... living way out in the country! 'Everyone,'" he says, in his best faux-stern official voice, "'To save the planet, we're going to stop the private sale of cars, and give everyone a bus pass and a bicycle.'" "But the bike I get is too big for me, and I can't reach the pedals. So I have to ride the bus. My district has a bus stop--the same as every other district--but getting there is a longer walk for me than most, because I'm in the country and I'm so short. Even though I got the same treatment as everyone else, it didn't actually help me all that much, because it assumed that my needs were the same as everybody else's." He pauses, to sniff at the air, as the smell of beef joins the simmering medly. Mm. "Civics calls that the difference between equality and equity. And I think that... right now, even though time passes equally for everyone, it doesn't pass equitably. A year for one person might be the same as three for someone else, here," he says, tapping a finger over his heart. "Or here," he says, tapping his temple. Nodding towards a calendar, "Even if the calendar says that the same number of days have passed." "If I can take the throne of time, I can make sure it passes more fairly. That... there are less people who feel like the have to race against time, or to make up for time that was lost."
Meika Kirenai	"Oh." Meika's expression immediately drops to match Sougo's frown. "I'm sorry. I-" She bites her tongue. "That's hard." Of course it's hard, that's stupid to say. He knows. You know. But what even can you? "...Keeping going. That's- that's... the best thing you can do, right?" It doesn't sound like she even believes that for certain. A silenced exhale follows, and her eyes trail away from anywhere near Sougo. 'Woz and I use them to transform.' "Oh. Like- like... my sketchbook, right? Miss Petra mentioned it's... Well. Y-you'd know your transformations better, maybe." Her thumbs fiddle with one another, underneath the table, a small, anxious movement. "Those are like mementos? Of... others." "That must be nice. To- to be able to keep guard of stories like that. Comforting." She shrugs her jacket collar closer up to her neck, unconsciously trying to dissapear more within it all. "I wish I could do something like that, Mister. I- I do the best I can. But... you know how it is." "You've... got a lot of those, right? Are you close to... being that? A king?" Meika's stomach reacts audibly to the smell of food, betraying her serious tone. She winces. Oh. When did I last even eat? A cough gets muffled by a clenched fist, and she straightens up how she's sitting. 'Imagine I was really short. And, I don't know... living way out in the country!' At first, Meika lets out a small, bright giggle. "Okay. I'll- I'll imagine that. Aha.." But, quickly, her expression falls back. Oh. I got it wrong. She's quieter when she speaks up in response, having listened as close to properly as she can, for a lecture. "...They're still trying to help you. But that's- that'd be unlucky." The further continuance has her shrink down even more into her chair. "...God gives out burdens to- to the people he knows can rise to them. And- and if they're not equal, they're still what's meant for you. It's not that it's not sad, but..." Shut up. Stop talking. That's awful to think about. She flinches, and goes quiet for a moment. "Y-yeah. It doesn't really feel fair. M-maybe that's just- you know. My fault, or something. If it should." "What would that even look like, Mister Sougo? Something fairer? I- I can't... I don't think I can really even imagine. I'm sorry."
Timespace Riders	Sougo does genuinely seem to appreciate Meika's attempt at comfort in the moment it's given, even if she's hard on herself for the way it was given. He gives a tired, weak smile, and a soft 'mm' of agreement. You've... got a lot of those, right? Are you close to... being that? A king? "I'm a lot closer than I was," Sougo says with a bit of measured pride. He glances over at the twinned watch upon the little silver stand, finding some meaning its contrasting black-gold and pink-silver halves. "There are still Riders whose stories I haven't learned from yet. I have a ways to go, still, but I'm not 'nowhere.'" Woz enters in, wearing a white apron and bandana, overtop his usual retainerly acoutrements. A platter is held, carrying three deep rice bowls. Atop pillowy white helpings of rice is a sauteed helping of onions and thin-sliced beef. The aroma of the soup is heavenly; sweet-savory for Woz's choice of ingredients, but also, tinged with a hint of the nutty, roasted scent of fine aged sake, finely incorporated with its fellows in the broth. A pleased, catlike smile forms as he takes in Meika's offering. A fortuitous choice of flavor. I believe we have just the condiment. "Ah," he says. "Allow me a moment longer," he says, taking up the chips in one hand and returning to the kitchen with the platter expertly balanced.
Timespace Riders	Sougo smiles eagerly at Meika, as Woz returns. The retainer arrives with the bowls set upon plates--and artful half-moons of carefully arranged ridged chips lining one side of each plate. The upper ends of these crescents are paired with carefully stylized dollops of spicy, smoky sauce--the gentle heat is a perfect comparison for the hearty, savory flavor of the gyudon and the salty chips. Each is served with a pair of chopsticks set gently upon cloth napkins, before Woz gracefully flits back into the kitchen to remove his apron and bandana. Making a grandiloquent gesture with his palms up, both arms held wide, he places one hand over his heart and offers a bow at the waist. "Lunch is served." The taste is as wonderful as the aroma, a perfect, filling lunch for someone hungry. "Thanks for the food, Woz!" Sougo makes a little gesture of thanks, bowing his head and digging in. What would that even look like, Mister Sougo? Something fairer? "It would look a lot more like living and less like survival, for a lot of people," he says. "It would look like less people feeling like they have to make it unfair for others, because 'that's what I got.' And I think it would look like... less asked, from the people with the least to give. I... don't know a lot about God--I'm not really religious. But, um... I think people with the power to help ought to." Then, after a pause, he smiles, gently turning his gaze away from his food, and back towards Meika. "...I could keep guard over a story for you, if you want. If there's one that you're worried needs guarding. I'll learn it, fight for the future with it. and use it to reach people, and you'll keep doing the best you can. And together, we each make sure it stays alive even after the cast I make of it fades away."
Meika Kirenai	It's not that it's easy to let the topic of loss roll off the conversation like water off roofing tiles, but there's really nothing else Meika can do about it, save for faintly returning Sougo's smile. Cold comfort. The magical girl shifts her posture slightly, and coughs into a closed hand. "Do you care if I smoke in here..?" 'I have a ways to go, still, but I'm not 'nowhere.'' Staying quiet and nodding along to his brief explanation is easier, sitting down, with her hands free to fiddle and fidget with one another. "That's- that's good. That you're somewhere, on it. But I guess it makes sense that there'd be more than that many, right?" That last statement, too, seems uncertain from her. "...Are you really going to get all of them? Like, all-all?" Woz's entrance gets her to startle, noticed without even looking his direction. She turns, and reacts with a (purposeful, but still) gentle smile. She seems quite pleased that the chips will have a use, a small little piece of value she's succeeded at accruing in the moment. The only sound she makes is a tiny two-note hum. When he returns, once more, she doesn't even bother to hush up a giggle at his over-the-top performance, covering her smile with a cuff-covered palm. "Um. Thank you, Mister Woz. That looks..." 'Thanks for the food, Woz!' "Ah-? Aren't- aren't we going to say grace..?" She flinches, worrying whether it's rude to even bring that up. There's a bit of genuine confusion on her face, though, as she lets the notion go un-bothered with, and picks up the chopsticks herself. ...Oh. I should have said I don't like meat... There's just a moment's pause before she starts to pick at the beautifully-arranged dishes. It's quite true that she's hungry- asking her to name the last two things she's eaten that weren't from a vending machine would get met with a blank stare. Even so, her stomach turns as she considers not just avoiding the sliced beef, to be polite. It's probably a lot less subtle in practice than it seems in her head. As conversation turns back to conversing, Meika clears her throat, ever so quietly. "Living and survival. It's- you mean, just... more time to do things other than what you have to, right?" Her voice is quiet, and she takes a moment afterwards to think about it- about room to breathe, room to rest, room to- She coughs, and breaks it off. "I hope it's- it's nice, for the people you'll be able to help, Mister." 'But, um... I think people with the power to help ought to.' "They- they do, don't they? That's why it's... That's why a duty like mine is important, right? While I still can. And I know everyone-" A staccato pause. "If everyone could, they would, right?" '...I could keep guard over a story for you, if you want. If there's one that you're worried needs guarding.' The faint little laugh that Meika lets ring is heartbreaking. "Just one?" She sets her utensils back down, the food in front of her not even close to finished. "I think all the stories I keep, that deserve to be known, can't be, Mister Sougo. You- you know how it is." Absentmindedly, Meika scratches at her forearm, through the fabric of her jacket sleeve.
Timespace Riders	Do you care if I smoke in here..? "I don't, but let me turn the air filter on... and get you the ashtray." Neither he nor Woz look like smokers. That just leaves Junichiro, but it seems hard to imagine him away from the enrichment of tinkering and repair. "Allow me, sire," says Woz, briefly excusing himself to turn on an electric air purifier leaned up against the wall. He disappears furhter into the house-turned-clock-repair shop for a few moments and returns with an old ashtray that looks like it couldn't have been anyone else's but Junichiro's, by the old 70s-style branding of a defunct convenience store on it. ...Are you really going to get all of them? Like, all-all? "Mm," Sougo affirms, nodding his head. "All of them on this world, anyway," he adds with a little smile. Sougo doesn't notice Meika's picking around the meat--but Woz does. He doesn't seem to take any offense, at least. Ah, so she does not care for meat? Easily accomodated. I will account for this, should she return another time. The Demon King beams at Meika when she expresses her thoughts on the world he wants to create, with the powet of the riders' stories. If everyone could, they would, right? Sougo nods, crunching on a chip after dipping it into the smoky-hot sauce. "I think so, too. That people are basically good, like that. And I also think that a lot of things..." He sets his chopsticks down to pantomime crushing something between his palms. "Prevent them from being able to help. Or devalue the ways that they can. And that sucks." I think all the stories I keep, that deserve to be known, can't be, Mister Sougo. You- you know how it is. Meika's laugh does affect Sougo profoundly--even if he still wears that gentle smile. "Maybe," he says. "I just know that... there are a lot of 'can'ts' in the world, and I'd like it if there were less of them, pressing down on people. That's the kind of king I want to be. So... could I try, anyway?"
Meika Kirenai	As soon as permission is given, Meika has already stuffed a hand in her pocket to pull out a cigarette pack. She taps it upside-down on the table, and pauses for a second, before holding it out towards the two Kamen Riders- an offer, even if she expects they'll refuse. Even after hers has been lit, Meika keeps fiddling with the rasping wheel of her lighter's striker, as it sparks a handful of times more. Lost, for that brief moment, in thoughts, distractions, or just the ritual of it all. Sitting as she is, Meika looks thoroughly and completely exhausted. 'All of them on this world, anyway,' "Oh. Right, right. They're... from more than just this world?" A gap in her speech, as Meika quietly wipes her face with her sleevecuff. "That must cut it down a lot. There's so many worlds. It's really kind of cool and scary to think about, though, isn't it..?" Pushing her chair just a smidgen back from the table, Meika finally looks right to Woz- goodness, eyes as red as that are unsettling -and tries a very short-lived smile. "Thanks. For the food. It's- it was good." And, once more, back away from him. 'Or devalue the ways that they can. And that sucks.' "That sucks." She parrots the last two words, saying them more to signal comprehension than direct agreement. "That's back to it being people's fault, isn't it? If it's... out of failures? I-" Holding the burning cigarette closer, she makes herself smaller within the depths of her jacket. "I know it's supposed to be true. That people are basically good, save for their own faults. But isn't that... that's not the same, as trying to help, right? I don't think those are tied together. Some things are wrong to help. And... some people help that are..." The cigarette cuts her off. Meika watches Sougo's expression fail to falter at her words, the girl's own falling slightly. "I- I keep a notebook, you know. Of names, and what I can keep of their owners. I might have mentioned it, somewhere..." Her free hand unconsciously reaches down to pat her messenger bag, where it sits on the floor. "You've seen the Temptations. You know what they do to people. So you know looking in it won't- won't..." Yet another cough. She's stopped looking in Sougo's direction, either. "I don't like how many 'can'ts' there are, either. But those st- those names, those people, they're as good as gone, once I am too, Mister. Between them and God and whatever hereafter they get." The same tiny bark of laughter as before. Meika's cuff wipes at her face, near the eyes, this time. "Try whatever you want. Just don't ask me to hope you'll get somewhere." I'm doing that anyways. Of course I am. But this hurts. It hurts so much. So please don't ask it. Completely silent now, Meika pulls the mentioned notebook out of her bag, and onto the table. That the book isn't even easy to rest eyes on it, without glazing over like it's just a part of unimportant background filler, can't be anything but an ominous sign.
Timespace Riders	Just don't ask me to hope you'll get somewhere. "That's okay," Sougo says. "I'll do enough of it for both of us." His soft brown eyes land on the notebook, and have trouble focusing. Almost like when I try to see the cover of Woz's book... but that's okay. "If I can't read the one that you've written... I'll just have to see it..." He extends his hand, palm up. An odyssey into the past is experienced in vignettes, though it spans only an instant. A brief search through past events, hunting for the story that Meika Kirenai wants told--spanning years, until, something catches Sougo's eye in the rapid flash of settled events. A landscape just alien enough to call itself into question surrounds him, as he witnesses events play out. The edges of his vision seem to refuse to elaborate on what lurks there, beyond the most simplistic, ground-level understanding. It eludes him, much in the same way Meika's notebook had. All that he can see, reliably, is Meika, and her immediate surroundings. That knowledge is enough to inform him that she's someplace a Temptation had menaced, once before. It's the kind of place that no one would think to go to--that place that's just foreboding enough to guarantee privacy, for those with a dire enough need. He can see, as well, in this moment, that Meika did need it. Scattered papers lie haphazardly on a possibly-concrete floor with hazy suggestions of damage--gouges, maybe? Impacts? The eyes hurt to look at them, so he stops, and focuses instead on the papers. As expected, the precise nature of what's being drawn eludes him--but not the fact that they are crumpled, and torn. Not that the backpack which held the notebook they belonged to has been thrown aside in frustration. Flanked by the dismal and foreboding silent witnesses of ruined industrial steel-somethings, Sougo watches, as Meika desperately tries to put something to paper. No--not something. Someone. She uses the privacy of this dangerous place, aggressively scrubbed from human perception, to weave the Meika Kirenai she wants the world to see. No one would come to a place like this, if the need weren't great... Sougo wipes the sleeve of his pastel pink button-up against his misty eyes, nods, and returns to the present. Golden motes of light swirl around his palm, as an almost electric whirring winds up from nothing. The motes compress with a soft chime, forming a futuristic-looking pocketwatch, like the ones on the little stand in the dining room. VERMILLION! The face of the watch bears the visage of a Kamen Rider, as the others do. But this one is unmistakably 'the story of Chevalier Vermillion, told by Sougo Tokiwa.' While her armor lacks a helmet, this one's helmet references her circlet and the earmuffs upon it. A jewel is set into the center of the winged circlet, cut to resemble the bow proper, while the loose lengths have been stylized into the archetypical Rider antennae, tapering off at the ends to -also- resemble minute and hour hands. Red katakana lenses read RIDER in stylized katakana, flanked on either side by the symmetrical 'crowns' of a wristwatch, which also resemble her earmuffs. These red accents are set against the pristine silver of the helmet. "...And retell it," says Sougo.
Meika Kirenai	There's only an instant between his words, and the appearance of the ridewatch. She, herself, gets no real indication of what Sougo's efforts entail, looking into her past. But Meika quickly notices- again, without even looking -its presence in Sougo's hand, and turns towards him. "I-" There's a long pause after she starts up, where the magical girl doesn't say anything. A few emotions are easy to read on her face. Surprise. Embarrassed pride. Gut-churning guilt. A similar set that comes through her heart every time she looks at the drawing Lilian had gifted her, safeguarded in a dresser Meika barely even uses anymore. That her smile is intentional doesn't make it not still a smile. "...That's a cool trick. Did you have it hidden somewhere? Like- like a magician? I didn't notice..." "Ah! No, wait, don't tell me. That'd ruin it, right?" The next smile she flashes is brighter, hinting at a giggle just below the surface. Her cigarette still dangles in hand, currently perched above Junichiro's ashtray. "I...Um. I'm glad we got to talk, a little, you know. Lunch was nice. Getting out of town, for this all, was nice." She scooches her chair back the rest of the way, and grabs up her notebook again- it gets put back into her bag, and her bag gets re-shouldered. She hesitates, right as she starts to stand up. "It's always nice. It makes it hard to want to go back home, stepping out into anywhere that's..." She leans over and grinds the cigarette into the tray. "Nah, that's silly to think about, so just ignore me. I'm rambling. See you, Mister Sougo. See you, Mister Woz."
Timespace Riders	Sougo smiles warmly, looking bashfully away and rubbing the back of his head when Meika asks not to spoil the mystery. Even Woz wears a soft, satisfied little smile. Maybe even a little proud. "I'm glad, too," says Sougo. He rises, nodding, and giving her a wide, bright smile. "Bye, Meika!" Woz rises, too, pushing in his chair and placing a hand on Sougo's shoulder. "Farewell, Meika. Please feel free to visit again." After Meika leaves, the both of them share a quiet moment of appreciation. It's nice having company--and nicer, when you can bring a smile to their face. There is a brief look between each of them, when the bell at the door sounds that Meika has left. The post-social buzz dissipates with the sound of the bell, and Sougo squeezes Woz's hand.